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Footsteps pounded the nearby ground and moments later his partner’s face peered down at them. “I heard gunshots, you guys okay?”
“No, Aggie’s not. Ambulance?”
“Will be here in three minutes.”
“Help me get her out.” He walked to the end of the rope ladder and adjusted his hold on Aggie. He didn’t want to just throw her over his shoulder given the placement of her wound. Somehow, he managed to hold onto her and climb halfway up, then hands took hold of her and lifted her the rest of the way to the top. Scrambling up to join her, he crouched beside her as someone wrapped her up in a blanket.
“That looks like blood. Are you hurt?” Miller was standing behind him, the flashlight beam aimed directly at the spot on the back of his head that pounded like a drum.
“It’s nothing, I'm fine.” He suspected he had sustained a concussion, but he didn’t care about that right now, all he cared about was getting Aggie the medical treatment she was in desperate need of.
Pushing aside the well-meaning hands of some cop who tried to pick up Aggie, Nick scooped her into his arms and carried her to safety.
August 27th
10:23 A.M.
Slowly the world began to come into focus around her.
Aggie was warm, lying on something reasonably comfortable. The pain in her shoulder and stomach was dull, like a background buzz.
The last thing she remembered was being carried in Nick’s arms. She’d finally felt safe, safe enough to completely let go and stop fighting to stay conscious. Everything after that was a blank. There were snippets here and there, bumbling voices, bright lights, a loud whirring sound, sudden relief from her pain, a constant presence beside her, but it was like she hadn’t been experiencing any of it, that it had been happening to someone else.
Unlike everything that had happened before waking up cradled against Nick’s chest. Unfortunately, that was all there, every horrific second, it was hazy, but it was there. The more her mind dwelled on it the clearer those images became.
Andrew. The knife in his hand. His body pinning her to the ground. The feel of him inside her. She must have passed out while he was raping her because the next thing she remembered was waking up in someone’s arms, she had known instinctively that it was Nick.
Was he here?
She didn’t think he would leave her side, but then again she had told him several times over the last few days to leave her alone.
Cracking her eyes open, she saw a figure in a chair beside her bed.
It wasn't Nick. In fact it wasn't even a man, it was a woman.
“Clara?” she croaked.
“Hey, you're awake.” Her sister stood, picked up a cup with a straw from the table beside the bed, and held it to her lips. “Drink slowly.”
Aggie took a sip, the cool liquid felt like heaven sliding down her parched throat. Then she scrunched up her brow in confusion. Andrew had said that her sisters were dead. Was she still asleep and dreaming?
“You staying awake this time? You’ve been in and out since they brought you out of recovery. Do you want me to get the doctor? Are you in much pain? Are you warm enough? I can get you another blanket if you need it,” Clara fussed.
Aggie just stared at her.
“You okay?” Clara perched on the edge of the bed.
“I thought you were dead,” she rasped. “Andrew said he killed you. You and Naomi.” she scanned the small hospital room but saw no signs of their other sister.
Clara reached for her hand. “Naomi is alive. He almost succeeded in killing us. He tampered with Naomi’s car, it hit a tree then exploded, but we got out before it did. Naomi’s spleen ruptured, she nearly bled to death, but she’s okay.”
A sigh of relief whooshed out of her, but then sadness descended. Her sisters may still be alive, but her father was dead. Andrew said he’d killed him and she had no reason to doubt that. She would never be able to apologize for believing that he was a killer. She would never be able to make things right. She had let him down, and now she would never get a chance to tell him one more time that she loved him.
“Hey.” Clara’s grip on her hand tightened. “What’s wrong? I mean, I know that seems like a stupid question after everything that you’ve just been through, but I'm worried about you. I want to help but I don’t know what to do for you.”
Aggie battled to shake off her guilt. Her father had given his life for her, she had to make the most of every day, that was the only way to honor him. “Just being here helps. How long have I been here?”
“It’s been about thirty-two hours since you were airlifted here. They rushed you through the ER and into surgery. You spent a couple of hours in recovery before they settled you in ICU. You were stable through the night so they moved you to this room earlier this morning. You’re lucky to be alive, Aggie. You lost basically the maximum amount of blood a person can lose and still survive.”
